The Time Before
by Astarael Silvertear
Summary: In a time before Charter Magic, when Free Magic ruled, and only a few people roamed the lands, the Nine came into power. This is their story, their tale.
1. Chapter 1

_Greetings. Just a note, green-times spring, cold-times winter, bright-times summer, dark-times fall. Also, this is a time before actual words, "organized meals", Charter Magic, and pretty much; people.  
_

_xxxxxxx _

There was much pain in the Time Before. No Charter existed, and magic meant death. Only the strength and power of Seven could create order, and this is their tale.

_xxxxxxx  
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Astarael found it hard to breath. Water clogged her nostrils, blinded her eyes, and threatened to bring her doom. She struggled in vain, only to find her self falling and falling and fall-

"Astarael! Wake up!" Ranna cried. Ranna was her younger sister, the middle child. Yrael was the youngest, and hadn't even bothered to wait for Astarael to wake, instead going out to find something for him to eat. Ranna's sweet voice cleared her senses, and she found herself floating back to the surface.

"I'm up. What troubles you?" Astarael mumbled. Not that she minded being woken from that disturbing dream. She had been getting a lot of those lately, and Ranna seemed to be waking her up more often. She sat up, almost hitting a low rocky overhang in their cave.

"Nothing troubles me, expect you were thrashing about. Having nightmares again?" Ranna asked. There was no scorn or disgust in her voice, only sympathy for her troubled sister. Their mother had died when they were younger, and they never knew a father. It had been Astarael who raised them.

"I'm fine." Astarael brushed a loose hair out of her face. "Where's Yrael?" she asked. "Is he off getting into mischief again?" Yrael was only twelve green-times, by Astarael's reckoning, and yet he managed to get himself into more tight-spots then Astarael and Ranna put together.

Ranna shook her head. "He went out to get food. He said he would get meat and water. I said I would start a fire."

Astarael nodded. "Good. You go ahead and start a fire by the waterfall, and get cleaned. I'll keep an eye out for any beasts." She motioned for a small tunnel, leading out to a waterfall and deep pond.

Ranna smiled. "Are you sure? You can wash up first. Yrael won't be here for a while."

"No, its fine. Go ahead." Astarael found it bothersome that her sister was sometimes _too_ nice. She found her brother's company much more interesting, though they bickered more often. Ranna smiled again, and ducked into the tunnel. Astarael busied herself straitening the wolf pelts that they slept on. When she was satisfied with it, she slipped on a tunic of deerskin over the thin rabbit-skin dress that she wore to sleep. Crawling on her hands and knees, she went over to the cave-mouth, and waited for her brother. While waiting, she spotted many a bird fly over the horizon. She had half a mind to go over to where she knew where some birds nested, and get some eggs, but froze as she was about to get up. The sound of footsteps cracking twigs and dried leaves and the sound of heavy panting made her stop. She nearly jumped as Yrael burst out of some bushes.

"Sister, sister, someone comes this way!" he cried. His white-blonde hair, which differed from Ranna's honey blonde and Astarael's raven black was plastered to his forehead, and his green eyes shone with fear.

"What do you mean, someone? Surely not-" she was cut off by a fearful nod from him. _So ones like us have come here._ she thought, her neck bent in deep thought. She squinted her eyes, wondering what to do. She knew what to do when a bear came, or a wolf. But the only other animal like themselves she had ever seen before was her mother, and that wasn't for very long. "Yrael, quickly, hide with Ranna by the waterfall, tell her what is happening, and be very quiet." She ordered. He nodded quickly, and scampered off.

Astarael strode out of the cave, trying to look as mean as she possibly could. Only her violet eyes gave her away, as they swept the landscape from side to side nervously. "Who goes there?" her voice boomed, louder than she expected. It startled her, but she refrained from jumping up.

Then, out of a small wood, came a figure. Astarael could tell it was a man, a man wearing strange pelts, and with a small spear of shining stone at his side. "Tis I, Belgaer. I mean you no harm," he answered back. She strained to catch his voice more. It didn't sound cruel. He stopped a while away, and he turned, waist up, suddenly. It was still to far for Astarael to clearly see him, and she couldn't even see a bit of his face. "Show yourself!" she cried, and he began to sprint towards her.


	2. Chapter 2

Astarael was barely aware of the sharp intake of breath that came from her own mouth. The stranger, Belgaer, sprinted towards her at a frightening speed. He came closer, and closer, and closer. Her mind begged her to run, pleaded her, but her legs were rooted to the spot in fear. Soon, he was so close that she could see the fine details of his face, and then he pushed her down onto the floor.

"Hide." he whispered. His vivid red hair hung in loose waves down his face, and his green eyes burned.

Astarael remained motionless on the ground; her eyes wide open in shock and fear.

"Hide!" he commanded again, and this time Astarael scurried to hide behind a stack of bear pelts that they used during winter. Belgaer rose, his head nearly brushing the rocky ceiling, and drew a shining stick. It was the color of a bright running stream and cold winter frost, blended into stone and wood. Astarael couldn't help but gawk at it.

"-a-er", she croaked, trying to say his name. She rubbed her throat, missing a scathing glance from Belgaer. "Belgaer, what do I hide from?" she asked feebly, now aware of the furious silencing glance from him.

"A beast approaches." he whispered, and then turned back to the mouth of the cave. Presently, the beast that he spoke of came into view, it was huge black bear, and it looked upset. It roared a challenge at Belgaer, and he stepped forward.

"_He's going to get himself killed!"_ thought Astarael with panic. She moved to pull Belgaer out of the bear's sight, but he was already running towards it, stick drawn. The bear shied away from the stick, and Belgaer began to beat it with it. Astarael watched in awe and puzzlement as the bear began to bleed. She suddenly realized that Belager was cutting through the bear, like she might cut through fresh caught fish. She watched in amazement and horror as the bear's head was loped off. It fell to the ground with a thud, but Belgaer was already walking back towards the cave, wiping the animal's blood off with many blades of long grass.

"Are you the only one living here?" he asked. His voice seemed so out of place after what just happened, and it took a while for Astarael to reply.

"No. My sister Ranna and my brother Yrael live with me here." she answered.

Belgaer nodded. "Have them come here. I have important things to say, things that may change the way you live." he said. His green eyes met her violet eyes, and she almost flinched. His gaze was so serious, so piercing. She wasn't sure she liked him. She got up, carefully, avoiding his gaze, and made her way to the waterfall. A shivering Yrael and a wet Ranna stood at the water's edge.

"What happened?" Ranna asked. Her voice sounded like a bird's warbled tune, compared to Belgaer's voice of a young wolf howling. Yrael seemed to ask the same question with his eyes.

"Ranna, put this on." she threw her sister's dress of rabbit fur at her. "We have company."

With a bewildered expression, Ranna slipped on the dress, and she and Yrael followed Astarael into their cave.

As soon as Ranna saw Belgaer, she blushed. Astarael fought the strong urge to laugh. Instead, she turned to look at Yrael. His white-blonde hair was drying now, and it was sticking up in random places.

Belgaer spoke, his voice again striking Astarael as out of place. Ranna blushed even more furiously, and Yrael shuddered with fear. "What if I told you that," here, he paused, and seemed to search the air for words, "you were different?"

"What do you mean by different?" she countered, her eyebrows slanted in question.

"It's hard to explain," he frowned. "I'm not sure what it all means myself, but you're set apart from everyone else. You're set apart by some unknown force. There's a reason to it, I know there's a reason!" He paused, looking frustrated. "That's beyond the point. There are others that are different like us-," he began, before Astarael interrupted him again.

"Others? What others?" she asked again, suspiciously. Before Belgaer came, she thought the only humans there were consisted of herself, Ranna, and Yrael, possibly even a father that they hadn't known.

Belgaer cradled his forehead in his hand and sighed. "Please let me continue."

"Sorry." replied Astarael, but not really meaning it.

"I wish to bring you three to them. On the way to where we will meet them, I will teach you things you may need to know before you get to where we are going." Belgaer stopped and looked up from his hand. "Any questions? Will you come?"

Before Astarael could say anything, Ranna eagerly nodded her head. Astarael scowled at her, and then said, "We will come." Belgaer stood up, and held out his hand. Astarael looked at it, her right eyebrow raised skeptically. Belgaer seemed about to laugh, but Ranna stood up eagerly, pushing Astarael off to the side.

"How old are you?" asked Ranna, her blue eyes shining.

Belgaer seemed taken aback by this. "I-I'm 19 winters old." he replied.

"Winters?"

"You know, when it starts to snow, the white things?" he wiggled his fingers whilst moving them downward, pantomiming snow.

"_He's older than me. He must be about one "winter" my elder."_ she thought. She wanted to test the new word on her tongue, but that would make her look foolish.

"Let's not waste time. Get whatever you feel you need to bring and pack it up. We leave as soon as you three are ready." At this, Belgaer stood up and walked to stand outside the cave door. The sibling scurried around, packing clothing and dried food. Ranna slipped out to the waterfall to fill three large animal bladders with water, and Yrael busied himself with creating bags in which to put their things in. Soon, they all stood lined up next to Belgaer. He gave them all a quick smile, Ranna hid her face and blushed, and they began to walk out towards the horizon.

(_Three weeks later)_

They had been traveling for almost a season. By now, Astarael knew much about language. Language was perhaps the only thing that Astarael liked about traveling to wherever Belgaer was taking them. While Yrael dreamt of a whole new world to explore, and while Ranna tried desperately to get Belgaer's attention (something about Belgaer being nice looking), Astarael was mastering the art of words. Many of the words Belgaer taught would have been useless in her old life, but Astarael suspected that whatever was beyond the horizon would require a quick tongue. With words came a whole new meaning to life. Words like _spontaneous_ had destroyed her own routine-goverened life. It would be hard to step out of the mother figure role she was forced into when her mother died, but it was a _trial_ she was willing to take.

When he wasn't teaching her new words, or smiling at her awful pronunciation, Belgaer would always talk about how close they were to getting to the House. He would never say who lived in the House, or where the House was. Just always, "We are near the House." Nothing more. It confused Astarael, and at night, when the moon was over her head, she would think about it, and the people that waited for her there. Would they accept her, a grubby 18 year old, and her siblings?

"Astarael, can you start a fire please?" Belgaer's voice broke her out of her reverie. He was getting edgier and edgier each passing day, mirroring Astarael's own feelings about the House. She wondered if the people who lived in the House were really horrible enough for Belgaer, the logical and composed, to get upset about. Ranna did not seem to enjoy Belgaer's new moods, either.

"_Ranna…_" she thought. It seemed obvious to Astarael that Ranna liked Belgaer. _"More than like, she's acts like a wolf, trying to hunt him down." _ Fortunately, Belgaer made no sign of noticing that Ranna had feelings for him. _"Nonetheless, the sooner we get to wherever Belgaer is taking us, the better."_ Ranna's self-control was beginning to look questionable; some place new would definitely take Ranna's mind off Belgaer.

"Astarael!" Belgaer's voice was raised, an angry look on his face. "I've asked you to start that fire about ten times now!"

Astarael set her jaw defiantly, but complied. "Sorry," she muttered as she scraped away at the ground until brown dirt was all that was left beneath her hands. On her knees, she searched for suitable stones to make a fire pit, all the while casting dark glances at Belgaer. After the third glance, he finally noticed.

"What?" he asked heatedly, the lump in his throat bobbing up and down. "If you need wood, Yrael and I went out earlier to get some. It's over there," he pointed to the small stack of wood, and seemed to be glad for a reason to look away.

Ranna bit her lip anxiously. "Don't fight," she whispered to Astarael as she handed her some wood. "He's been so good to us, leading us and teaching us. Don't repay him like this." Astarael sighed, defeated.

She hunched down over the logs, rubbing two twigs together furiously. Within seconds, she was tending to a small fire.

"You all have enough time to get warm and have a bite to eat. Our destination is just over that hill. Hurry." Belgaer's voice was unusually harsh and cold. He heaved a great sigh, and began walking towards the hill. "I shall meet you there."

Astarael shrugged, and handed a piece of jerky to a hurt-looking Ranna. Yrael happily munched on dried fruit, and Astarael followed suit. Only Ranna remained motionless. She was still staring at Belgaer's retreating form when Astarael spoke up.

"Ranna, try to curb your feelings for him. I don't want you to get hurt."

"What would you know about feelings! You've never felt love!" she spat contemptuously, acting very unlike her usually self. Astarael had never seen Ranna this angry before, and Yrael had never seen Ranna angry ever. The small boy stopped eating, mouth opened in shock.

"Ranna, this is the only person you've met, besides us. Chances are, someone else out there is the one that you really love. Don't waste yourself on someone that may not even be the one." Astarael was a bit upset that Ranna could be so foolish, and taken aback that Ranna, whom she had practically raised, could have the gall to be upset at her over a man. Angrily, stamped out the merry fire. "Let's go."

Astarael gathered up her things, and began marching toward the hill. What she saw next amazed her and frightened her at the same time.

"What madness is this?"


	3. Chapter 3

It was indescribable. She felt claustrophobic and safe at the same time.

"What kind of cave is this, Belgaer?" asked Astarael, their past argument forgotten. Ranna and Yrael, as usual, were scampering about, marveling in this "entry room", as Belgaer had called it.

"Not a cave, Astarael. The House. Courtesy of the nearby town's Elders, who are convinced we can't take care of ourselves because our joints can move." Astarael didn't even bother to ask what a town was. "_One thing at a time,_" she reminded herself.

"Your elders usually know best, Belgaer," Astarael said sternly, recalling the last time Yrael had challenged her authority.

"We aren't like them, Astarael," Belgaer countered earnestly. Noticing her puzzled expression, he quickly added, "But more on that later. Are you comfortable representing your family?"

Astarael flashed an annoyed smirk. "Belgaer, that's what I've been doing for the past season. And anyway, I basically brought up Ranna and Yrael. Between making sure they were clean, fed, and safe, I've had little time for anything, especially nervousness."

She expected him to laugh, but instead he gave her a sad look that left her confused. "_What was that supposed to mean_?" she thought, thoroughly puzzled.

Belgaer cleared his throat importantly. "At the moment, there are only six of us. I'm hoping that you and our siblings will make it nine, but we'll have to see about that." He cleared his throat again, and made to speak, but she silenced him with her hand.

"Wait. You're meaning to tell me that you brought my family here possibly for no reason? You've led us on a journey-long season on a moot chase?" she asked, her voice taking on a dangerous edge. If there was one thing Astarael despised (well, one of the many things she despised), it was wasting time. "Just tell me what matters," she would often tell Ranna and Yrael.

Belgaer looked away, embarrassed. "Sorry, but you realize that it _is_ easier for three to travel as opposed to six." He shrugged apologetically.

"Is there anything _else_ I should know before meeting your friends?" she asked blandly.

Belgaer frowned. "Not friends. Associates. Mosrael and his sister, Kibeth, are fair-minded. You don't have anything to fear in them. Dyrim is, well, Dyrim. Extremely talkative, ambitious, snide… Not that nice of a person. But if you think Dyrim is a lot, the last two you won't be able to handle. Orannis and Saraneth… Orannis is smart underneath that skull of his, I'm sure of it. Saraneth uses his brain slightly more often- I'd say that out of the two of them, Saraneth is more valuable."

He began to move towards the opening in the wall (a door, she recalled Belgaer saying), but Astarael stopped him by grabbing his wrist.

"Do I get to know what they look like, at least?" She knew right away that she would have to appeal to Dyrim above all others, but if she accidentally began appealing to Kibeth instead of Dyrim, Dyrim probably wouldn't like her all that much.

Belgaer cast an unapproving eye over Astarael's animal skin shift, and then over Ranna and Yrael as they walked up to them, looking windswept from running around. "Perhaps we shouldn't focus on appearance," he suggested.

Ranna blushed, taking a correct guess on what they were talking about. She moved behind Astarael, finally acting more like herself. Yrael, in his loincloth and looking wholly unconcerned, pushed on the door and entered the chamber. Belgaer caught the door before it closed, and held it open for Astarael and Ranna. Astarael wouldn't have minded if he had acted rude like Yrael and went first. As she went through the door, Belgaer gave her a smile, which she returned weakly.

"Hurry up, then! We haven't got all day!" The shrill voice pierced the silence. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, Astarael could make up five figures sitting at a long wooden table. The effect was, overall, intimidating.


	4. A Note From the Author

A Note From the Author-

Hello everyone. For those of you who have already read Chapters 1 and 2 (I LOVE YOU!), you may want to re-read them. I've edited their ages, and removed the mention of magic. Magic will come later, as soon as Belgaer gets smarter. Chapter 3, which I wrote while in Yosemite National Park, is up, and I'll probably have Chapter 4 up tomorrow. (Today is August 25th, by the way.) Thank you for taking the time to read my ficcy. hugs everyone, and then hands out ice cream


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